As the Crow Flies (Book 19 in the Godhunter Series) Read online

  “A few times,” I muttered.

  “Honestly, I had no idea there were others.”

  “What?” I looked up at him in shock.

  “You forget how young I was when my parents died,” Arach sighed. “There are a lot of things I wasn't told. I assume those rings were made long before I was born. When Cian gave you your father's ring, it was the first time I'd seen one.”

  “Oh.”

  I looked around the spacious nursery, trying to find some peace in the familiar surroundings. The wood pole in the corner had deep scratches in it from Rian's claws. The delicate wardrobe that had been made for Rian now had a twin wardrobe sitting beside it, full of Brevyn's clothes. The changing table, with its tray of moss on its lower shelf, had a stack of clean linens on the top, just waiting for little royal bottoms to cover. Near the window, there was a toy chest, a fluffy rug, and my rocking chair, where I used to feed the boys. Now I rocked in it when I read to them. Then the cradles; Rian's fireproof diamond bowl had a crystal mobile of faerie animals hanging above it, and Brevyn's more traditional wood crib had a living canopy of flowering vines twining over it. The scent of my sons permeated everything, and breathing deep, I finally found my muscles relaxing.

  “Why are you so concerned with the rings?” Arach asked, making me tense again.

  “I don't know,” I shrugged. “I just have this horrible feeling when I think about there being more out there.”

  “There are probably very few of them,” Arach assured me. “Those types of things require some heavy magic to create and it's usually done only once, with a group of faeries pooling their powers.”

  “Right. Pooling their powers,” I frowned, wondering why that made me feel even worse.

  “Everything is going to be fine,” Arach led me from the nursery, nodding to the nanny who went in to watch over our sleeping princes, and then walked me down the hall to our bedroom. “We'll all be watching Aalish closely now and when she screws up, which she will, we'll catch her.”

  “Sure. Okay,” I dropped onto our dragon-sized, fireproof (the frame at least) bed.

  Arach started lifting my dress.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I slapped at his hand.

  “I didn't have the chance to fully appreciate your body earlier,” he smirked. “I'm getting another look.”

  “You see me naked all the time,” I chuckled.

  “But not like that,” his eyes gleamed, “standing proud and powerful, magic pouring from you like heat from the sun. You looked like one of our ancient queens, bending the elements to her will. It was wondrous to behold. A fire queen controlling water. Do you have any idea how breathtaking you were?”

  “You warranted a few breaths yourself,” I smiled and lifted my arms so he could pull my dress off.

  “Did I?” he smirked.

  “Just take a compliment like a normal person for once,” I rolled my eyes.

  “I am perfectly normal for a dragon king,” he yanked off his shirt and cast it aside.

  “I don't have anything to base a comparison on,” I sighed, utterly fascinated with his magnificent chest. Then he dropped his pants and I swallowed past a suddenly dry throat. “But I have a feeling that all this,” I swirled my fingers towards his nudity, “is not normal.”

  “Abnormal?” he grinned and crawled over me, pushing me back onto the mattress.

  “Paranormal,” I chuckled as he slid his cheek along mine. Then his mouth lowered and I added, “And extraordinary.”

  A small stream of fire tickled my stomach as he burned the straps of my panties away.

  “Hey,” I glowered at him. “I liked those.”

  “I'll have more made,” he rumbled against my sensitive flesh and my eyes rolled back in my head.

  Panties? What panties? I don't need panties.

  Tongue. Teeth. Talons. That's what I needed and that's what he gave me. Arach blended gentle strokes with aggressive grasping, and then smothered me in dragon fire. My skin didn't know if it wanted to tingle or shiver, my legs couldn't decide whether to shake or simply fall open in surrender, and my hands had no idea what they should grab onto. I was already at the senseless portion of the proceedings and he had barely begun.

  Then he was above me, his hips between mine and his forearms braced to either side of my head. His eyes had warmed to golden molasses and they shone like a cat's within the shadows of the bed. They were serious, much too serious for the sensual moment.

  “Someone tried to kill our children today, A Thaisce,” he whispered.

  “I was wondering when you were going to let that sink in,” I stroked the blood-red hair back from the dramatic angles of his face. Those angles had sharpened a bit with his lust and now, with his fury.

  “I vow to you, Vervain,” he lowered his lips to mine so that the words became a vibration on my skin. “Whoever is behind this, they will drown as they had intended our children to. Except they shall drown in their own blood.”

  And with that vicious vow, he slid inside me. I clung to him, my inner dragon snarling in satisfaction. Our mate would bring us the justice we craved. It may not seem like the most romantic declaration to you but to me, it ranked right up there with for as long as we both shall live. This was love in one of its purest forms. Love so deep and strong, so fierce and formidable, it would destroy anything that threatened its existence.

  My heart burned with a similar love for Arach in that moment. It burned more brightly than it ever had. Our kisses were biting, fiery things, our hips slammed against each other with bruising force, and our hands shifted into claws to cling closer to one another. Blood dripped over our skin but was licked away before it could stain the sheets.

  I pushed him over and straddled him, hands pressed to his chest as I gloried in our savagery. This was life distilled, love intensified, and it was exhilarating. My dragon lifted inside my chest as my claws dug into Arach's shoulders. He made a rumbling growl and I lowered my lips to his. Fire filled my throat and flowed from me into him. He drank it down, his talons clasped firmly about my hips. When he was satisfied, he reversed the flow and filled me with his flame.

  I was burning, from the inside out, and I couldn't be happier. Skin flushed with heat and desire. His fire in my chest and the hot length of his sex filling mine. It was almost too much to bear. But I was a dragon and I could take the heat. I threw my head back, traces of fire still trailing from my lips, and we screamed out together. I crumpled over him, smoke lifting from our lips and flesh. I breathed in the burning scent of our love and snuggled in against my dragon.

  “I was wrong,” Arach whispered into my hair. “You are far more glorious than our ancient queens.”

  Chapter Nine

  I was feeding the boys lunch when Arach stomped into our bedroom scowling.

  “What is it?” I wiped the pureed fruit from Brevyn's lips as he giggled and slammed little baby fists onto the shelf of his highchair.

  I'd had the chairs specially made by some of our craftsmen. Brevyn's was just like a traditional highchair, made entirely of wood, but Rian's was a bit bigger and made of steel. Rian was eating all on his own, tearing into both meat and vegetables with gusto. Though he did favor the meat, truth be told. Brevyn still had to be hand fed. I couldn't even place the food dish in front of him or he'd attempt to imitate his brother and make a huge mess.

  “King Cian just mirrored,” Arach snarled. Rian lifted his head from his meal long enough to snarl back at his father, earning a proud smile from Arach before he continued. “They've been unable to find any connection between Queen Aalish and the incident. She has presented herself to the High King, upon his request, and he has personally questioned her, but she swears she's innocent.”

  “Well of course she does,” I rolled my eyes. “But we knew this would happen. Why are you so upset?”

  “You're right,” he brightened. “I should be thrilled that the High King hasn't imprisoned her.”

  I frowned at him.

  “If he h
ad, we wouldn't be able to hunt her on our own,” he gave me a wicked grin and my dragon shifted excitedly inside me.

  “But first we need proof,” I tamped down my excitement. “We can't just kill a faerie queen without proof.”

  For a moment, I was shocked, thinking to myself; Oh Vervain, when did you become so bloodthirsty? Then my jaw hardened. When my babies were threatened, that's when. Motherhood can turn even the most gentle of women into vicious, crazy, fearless demons. When it comes to your children, you'll discover you're capable of things you wouldn't have dreamed of doing before. I once saw a woman jump into the alligator lake at the Honolulu Zoo after her son had toppled in. She didn't even hesitate.

  “I've already dispatched some of our faeries to do some scouting,” he took a seat beside me and wiped a little piece of meat off Rian's chin.

  “And by scouting you mean?” I lifted a brow at him.

  “Spying,” he smiled wryly. “I'm not going to abduct her,” his face went into the blank lines of revelation. “But maybe I should. We could imprison her in the Hidden Ones' old caves.”

  “No,” I pointed Brevyn's silver baby spoon at him. “No abducting faerie queens. I don't want you back in one of Cian's cells and I don't want that b-i-t-c-h in my kingdom.”

  “Not even to chase down and tear to pieces?” he asked brightly.

  “Well yes, of course that but, as I mentioned earlier, we can't do that yet.”

  “Ah yes,” his face fell. “Best to wait for our faeries to report back then.”

  “What kind of fey did you send?”

  “Phookas,” he gave me a duh look.

  “Of course,” I shook my head. “I don't know why I even asked.”

  I started wiping off Brevyn's face with a cloth, and then removed the shelf of his highchair. Arach did the same for Rian, and then we picked our sons up and settled back into our seats in unison.

  I gave Arach a little smile at our perfectly timed maneuvers but it faded as Brevyn placed his palm to my cheek. I looked into my son's serious eyes and knew exactly what was coming. Oh sweet faerie flames, here we go.

  The room disappeared and I was suddenly in a meadow. The sky was bright and clear overhead but there was a scent on the breeze that worried me. Decay. I peered around at the forest crowding the edges of the meadow and saw tired trees with drooping branches, leaves turning shades of rust and tar. On the ground, the grass was brittle and brown, and no flowers bloomed. Soil showed through in spots and even the earth looked parched and unhealthy.

  Where was I?

  My skin was going hot and cold, the hair on my arms lifting in warning. This wasn't a natural death; not drought, disease, or even the coming of Fall. No; something was doing this on purpose. I knew, deep within my blood, that it was magical murder. A twisted magic had been at work here and the land was furious that someone would dare to hurt it. It felt...

  “Abandoned,” I whispered as my eyes settled on a boulder.

  It had a flat top but was roughly shaped like a human heart. The stone was pale gray and pink, and I knew it would be warm to the touch. I knew because I had been here before. This place haunted my dreams and even now, a part of me wept for what I'd left here.

  “The Heart Stone,” I went forward and laid my palm to it, but I could barely feel the pulse of magic which normally beat steadily through the rock. And it was ice cold.

  I gasped and pulled my hand away. Suddenly, a biting wind whipped through the clearing, slapping my hair into my eyes. I struggled to push away the stinging strands but my hands were already busy holding something. What was I holding? The wind died out and I looked down.

  “Brevyn?” I laid down on the stone with my son, even as I voiced the question.

  I have no idea what prompted me to lie upon the Heart Stone, but it was now warm. As if the mere proximity of a fire fey had chased the chill away.

  Brevyn sighed and snuggled his head to my chest, completely content. I rolled my head back against the Heart Stone, memories of the last time I'd been on that rock, rushing through me. I'd given up my nahual here, my jaguar animal twin who had held a piece of my faerie mother's essence. It had hurt, but I had been comforted by the fact that she lived on within the land. So it had been a bittersweet parting.

  Now the land was dying.

  I scowled as another memory surfaced. After I'd given up my nahual, my beasts had fought me. My star had been newly formed and I hadn't yet figured out how to use its power to unite my animals. They'd previously been controlled by my jaguar and without her, they had rebelled.

  The Light Elves had helped me, healing me and calming my animals, but it had been my mother who had taught me how to control those wild creatures inside me. That small piece of her had risen up through the stone and showed me the way to tame my beasts. Now I felt her presence again. The Heart Stone warmed further with her essence, and I knew she was the last bit of magic left in Alfheim.

  Freyr, for reasons unknown, wasn't supplying the land with energy. Not that such a thing was consciously done. A god bonded with his territory and then an exchange just automatically happened. It was a symbiotic relationship; the territory gave you sanctuary and you gave it magic to fuel itself. So why wasn't the exchange happening with Freyr?

  Brevyn giggled and rolled off my chest, to lay along my side with his head pillowed on my arm. He turned to me, his eyes so like Ull's, and stared at me with sudden intensity. He began to glow, his skin lighting from within. I felt my mother's presence gather and shift anxiously. Brevyn smiled serenely and a star appeared over his head. A nine-pointed star.

  I gasped my way out of the vision and found Arach's hands on my shoulders. Rian was on the ground at my feet, staring at us solemnly. Brevyn just snuggled in closer against me and fell asleep. His work was done.

  “Vervain?” Arach asked. “What did he show you this time?”

  “Alfheim,” I whispered and looked towards Blossom's pot.

  It was empty because she liked to be out in the pixie village during the summer. At least during the day. I often brought her in at night, simply because she felt like a friend to me and I hated the thought of her sleeping outside, alone in the dark. Alfheim was where Blossom had been born. The land had grown her to help me escape Freyr. When I left Alfheim, I'd taken that little piece of it with me. Blossom was a flower, a nostradim to be precise, but there was old magic within her. She was so much more than a plant to me. She was a savior, a friend, and a connection to the land my mother was now a part of; Alfheim.

  “What about Alfheim?” Arach angled his face into my line of sight.

  “It's dying,” I said with horror and then suddenly realized what this would mean for my little flower. “Blossom!”

  I stood up and raced to the door, Brevyn still cradled in my arms. I heard Arach curse behind me and then he was beside me, running down the stairs, holding a giggling Rian to his chest. We were out of Aithinne within minutes, navigating the soaring boulders that spotted the landscape directly behind the castle.

  The pixie village came into view, their homes carved out of the mountainside itself, and before it, in the center of a tiled courtyard, was Blossom. The pixies had made a border of faceted jewels around her plot of earth, so that everyone would know this piece of land was reserved for her. Blossom loved it and often dipped her petals down to brush the gems... just as she was doing now.

  I sighed in relief and came to a stop before her. Blossom lifted her nostradim head and turned in my direction, as if she could see me. I bent down and brushed her bright yellow, rounded petals with a gentle fingertip, and the lacey stamens in her center shook with joy. I had lost her once, in the future that would hopefully never be, and it had been my breaking point. The last straw upon my camel of control. I didn't ever want to see her dried up husk again. The mere thought made my eyes water.

  She's not tied to Alfheim anymore, remember? Faerie huffed in my head. She's tied to me.

  “You couldn't have mentioned that before I rushed down her
e?” I snapped.

  And miss the entertainment of you bouncing down the stairs with your babies and babe of a husband? Faerie chuckled. I don't think so. By the way, you bounce well, Arach.

  Arach nodded with a smug smile. Yes, of course he bounced well, he was a dragon king; that smile seemed to say. I was tempted to start singing the Tigger song from Winnie the Pooh, and ask Arach if his bottom was made out of springs. But I was a little distracted by other, more important matters than the bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy ways of my husband. No matter how good a bouncer he was.

  Why do I suddenly have an image in my head, of Arach standing outside Moonshine, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at a line of people while looking dangerously delicious?

  “Do you know what's happening in Alfheim?” I asked Faerie as I stood, and determinedly pushed the image of bouncer Arach away.

  Uh... I'm Faerie, you moron. Of course I don't know what's happening in another realm.

  “You're an a-s-s is what you are,” I snarled. “And you followed my progress in the other realms just fine before I came here.”

  Really; with the spelling? she chortled, ignoring my accounting of her previous stalking behavior.

  “Shut up,” I growled.

  “My Queen?” Lissa was out on her balcony, on the third tier of the pixie village. “Is everything alright?”

  “Oh yes, I just wanted to see Blossom,” I waved off her concern and she smiled brightly. But then her eyes widened and her face dropped into lines of terror.

  I followed her line of sight behind me, and saw a tidal wave in the distance. A tidal wave! Rushing across the plains of the Fire Kingdom, straight for us.

  “Impossible,” Arach whispered as he gaped at the oncoming water.

  “Take him,” I pushed Brevyn into Arach's arms.

  Then I tore off my clothing as I simultaneously shifted. Cloth fell away from me in strips as my lioness burst forth and rushed desperately across the warm earth. We leaped over steaming cracks which led down to underground rivers of lava. We dodged sturdy trees and rubbery plants dripping water. We dug our claws into the rich soil and strained to go faster as the very earth shivered beneath our paws.